The commercial building in front of the station was filled with the excitement of students enjoying after school and shoppers out for the evening.

Vivid holographic images spilled from the walls of the lined-up shops, competing to advertise trending fashion and the latest devices.

Through that lively noise, we hurried toward our destination.

“There it is! Look, the line’s already that long!”

Where Aoi pointed stood the sign for the newly opened sweets shop ‘Lumière’, surrounded by a long queue.

The target was the limited-time menu item released today, the ‘Neo Crystal Parfait’.

“…That’s a lot of people. This might take an hour.”

“It’s fine! I skipped part of lunch to grab advance reservation tickets! We’re next!”

Aoi presented the holographic reservation slip proudly.

Beside her, Rin naturally wrapped both hands around my left arm and pulled it close to her chest.

“…Shizuku, it’s crowded. Don’t let go or we’ll get separated.”

“Rin, you don’t have to grip that hard. I’m not running away.”

“No. You always disappear somewhere.”

Rin rested her head against my shoulder and tightly held my sleeve.

Her body heat transferred directly to me, making me a little self-conscious.

But knowing this was normal for her, I accepted the weight.

The terrace seats we were guided to were dozens of floors above ground, offering a neatly divided cityscape below.

The parfait brought out to us truly lived up to the name ‘Crystal’.

Layer upon layer of transparent jelly and cream reflected sunlight, shimmering in seven colors.

“Wow… Shizuku, this is literally a mass of ‘aesthetic appeal’! We have to take pictures and post them on SNS!”

“…It looks delicious.”

I picked up my spoon and scooped from the very top layer.

The texture burst on my tongue, and refined sweetness spread through me.

The fatigue from last night’s battle seemed to melt away with that single bite.

“How is it, Shizuku? Good?”

“Yeah. Really good.”

“Good. You’ve got some on your mouth. Stay still.”

Rin leaned closer and gently wiped my lips with her fingertip.

Then, without hesitation, she licked the cream from her own finger.

“…Rin, that’s embarrassing.”

“Why? It’s sweet. Tastes like Shizuku.”

“Don’t say weird things.”

Feeling my face heat up, I quickened my pace eating the parfait.

Aoi watched us with an amused smile while photographing her own dessert.

“You two are nice. If we could broadcast this with a drone, your ranking would skyrocket.”

“Absolutely not. Only I get to see this kind of face from Shizuku.”

Rin declared openly, not even attempting to hide her possessiveness.

At that moment—

—Beep. Beep. Beep.

A heavy electronic tone echoed from inside my bag.

The dedicated app notification sound.

The signal announcing the start of magical girl ‘duty’.

“…Time.”

I set down my spoon and activated my smartphone.

Displayed was a notice for the implementation of a ‘Scheduled Subjugation’ at a designated point several kilometers from here.

“Already? We were just getting into a good mood.”

“It’s work. It was scheduled for today anyway.”

Aoi puffed her cheeks in disappointment.

In the modern era, battles with monsters aren’t merely encounters with unknown threats.

Most are part of managed operations.

“Scheduled Subjugation… Shizuku, are you doing something dangerous again?”

Rin tightened her grip on my arm anxiously.

With my free hand, I gently stroked her head.

“It’s fine. The one two days ago was irregular, but today’s just ‘pressure release’.”

In truth, monster occurrences are almost completely controlled by the Bureau.

During the consumption of Magic Stone energy, stagnant magical power inevitably accumulates in the atmosphere.

If left alone, it could cause massive disasters in unexpected locations.

So the state designates specific places and times to intentionally materialize that magical power and eliminate it.

That is ‘Scheduled Subjugation’.

For magical girls, it’s closer to routine cleaning or maintenance work.

“According to the schedule, three small D-rank units will appear. It should be done in ten minutes.”

“…Even so, be careful. You always fight at full power.”

“I know. I won’t get hurt.”

I stood and picked up the device that functioned as my portable gear case.

Aoi hurriedly finished her parfait and made a firm fist pump.

“Alright! Shizuku, power up with parfait energy and knock it out quickly! I’d love to follow you and stream it, but… I’ll behave and cheer from here today!”

“…Yeah. I’m going.”

At last, Rin reluctantly released the hem of my uniform.

With her slightly moist eyes seeing me off, I left the terrace.

In the few dozen seconds descending by elevator, I looked at my reflection.

The face of an ordinary high school girl who had just been sharing parfait with friends slowly sharpened.

Magical girl, Himuro Shizuku.

I’m not heading to a thrilling final battle.

But to an essential work site that preserves this city’s peaceful everyday life.

The elevator reached the lobby and the automatic doors opened.

The evening wind brushed my cheeks.

After completing smartphone authentication, I avoided the crowd and ran into an alley.

“Transform.”

Pale light enveloped my body as my uniform rewrote itself into a black defensive suit.

Confirming the weight of the knuckles in both fists, I leapt to a rooftop.

With skyscrapers as my backdrop, I accelerated toward the designated subjugation point.